CA is widely considered to be the second hardest bar exam after NY. Apparently, either last year or the year before, the Bar passage rate went up to 51%. The state Bar announced this year that they're going to make the test harder and get the passage rate back under 50%. I was shocked when I read that. Apparently PMBR was hiring people who used to make questions for the Bar exam. In their books, PMBR have questions that were similar to the Bar exam. They are being sued by the Bar Examiners right now for the 3rd or 4th time because of the similar questions. Also apparently, CA thinks PMBR might have contribute to high bar passage rate.

Use the rule that they formulate based on the case you are reading; that's why you read the cases. In some cases it will be very similar to the rules they use in reaching the decision. After all, that's what lawyers and judges do, they take a new set of facts and try to find an existing legal precedent to fit into those facts. But make sure you can pick out the specific rule based on the facts that are in front of you. That's what goes in your outline.

so just to make sure, i use the rule that they use to apply to the certain set of facts in that particular case, not the resulting rule after they have come to a conclusion. correct?

i had a question about outlining. when i plug in my cases under certain topics, do i put in the rule of law that they use to analyze the situation and come out with the result or do i use the rule that they come up with after analyzing the situation?

for example, for a property case - the rule they use to analyze the facts is the ACPA (cybersquatting), but the rule they come up with at the tend is that: registering a doman with the bad faith intent to make profit from the name of another is illegal, blah blah blah. Which one do i include in my outline? thanks!

the one thing that i am afraid of is that i go buy a whole bunch of aids (i already have some "understanding" books from lexis since they were recommended by the profs.) and never have enough time to read them or make use of them. i was thinking that i would use the "understanding" series along with black letter law outlines to understand the material. any tips?

i start the fall semester as a 1L and was wondering, where do i find the hornbooks or canned briefs for specific books? my school offers emmanuels and glannon books but they are mostly examples and explanations or outlines. where are the books that have the canned briefs specifically tailored to books for the first year? any help would be great. thanks!